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The Vanishing Box

By Elly Griffiths

Authors:

Elly Griffiths

'A piquant mixture of humour, period detail . . . and truly beguiling characterisation' Financial TimesThe perfect Christmas mystery read for fans of Agatha Christie and Anthony HorowitzWinter, 1953. A young flower seller is found dead in her room at a Brighton boarding-house, posed with chilling perfection into a recreation of the death of Lady Jane Grey. This is a killer unlike any DI Edgar Stephens has encountered before.Across the city at the Hippodrome theatre, Max Mephisto is top of the bill in a double act with his daughter Ruby. Tarnishing the experience, though, is one of the other acts: a seedy 'living tableaux' show where barely-dressed women strike poses from famous historical scenes. Is the resemblance to the murder scene pure coincidence, or is life imitating art?When another death occurs - this time within the troupe itself - Max once again finds himself involved in one of Edgar's cases, and a threat that will come closer to home than anything before. What should be just a job is about to become personal.

Vigil

By Angela Slatter

Authors:

Angela Slatter

A rich and exciting new urban fantasy, perfect for fans of Harry Dresden and Peter Grant.Verity Fassbinder has her feet in two worlds. The daughter of one human and one Weyrd parent, she has very little power herself, but does claim unusual strength and the ability to walk between one world and the other as a couple of her talents. A rarity, she is charged with keeping the peace, and ensuring the Weyrd remain hidden.But now Sirens are dying, illegal wine made from the tears of human children is for sale - and in the hands of those who hold to old, dangerous ways - and someone has released an unknown and terrifyingly destructive force on the streets of Brisbane.Verity must investigate, or risk ancient forces carving the world apart.Vigil is the first book in award-winning author Angela Slatter's Verity Fassbinder series.'Slatter's work is excellent, and eminently readable . . . It's easy to see how she's managed to make such an impact on the genre' - British Fantasy Society

Vernon Subutex 1

By Virginie Despentes

Authors:

Virginie Despentes

WHO IS VERNON SUBUTEX?An urban legend. A fall from grace. The mirror who reflects us all.Vernon Subutex was once the proprietor of Revolver, an infamous music shop in Bastille. His legend spread throughout Paris. But by the 2000s his shop is struggling. With his savings gone, his unemployment benefit cut, and the friend who had been covering his rent suddenly dead, Vernon Subutex finds himself down and out on the Paris streets.He has one final card up his sleeve. Even as he holds out his hand to beg for the first time, a throwaway comment he once made on Facebook is taking the internet by storm. Vernon does not realise this, but the word is out: Vernon Subutex has in his possession the last filmed recordings of Alex Bleach, the famous musician and Vernon's benefactor, who has only just died of a drug overdose. A crowd of people from record producers to online trolls and porn stars are now on Vernon's trail.Translated from the French by Frank Wynne

The Visit of the Royal Physician

By Per Olov Enquist

Authors:

Per Olov Enquist

Adultery, insanity, back-stabbing and blue blood in 18th century Denmark . . . The winner of THE INDEPENDENT FOREIGN FICTION PRIZE, Sweden's AUGUST PRIZE and France's Best Foreign Book AwardIt is the 1760s, the height of the Enlightenment, a time of great promise and transformation across Europe, but in the state of Denmark something is rotten. The young king, Christian VII, is a half-wit. His queen, the English princess Caroline Mathilde, has fallen in love his most trusted advisor, the court physician, Struensee, who is engaged in a bitter ideological battle with the head of the diplomatic corps, Guldberg. Gulberg, a cold-blooded religious fanatic, is determined too annihilate the Enlightenment ideals - which threaten to improve the lot of the peasantry and to support freedom of the press - that Struensee is introducing to Denmark. Whoever prevails will not only control the king but the nation state. The victor will impress his legacy on the kingdom: either Struensee's free-thinking principles or the repressive proscriptions of Guldberg.Enquist's masterpiece, acclaimed throughout Europe, is a superb examination of the clash between the raptures of love and the certainties of dogma, the torments of the flesh and the enticements of power. It is an unforgettable introduction to a fascinating period in European history.

Voices From Beyond

By Simon R. Green

Authors:

Simon R. Green

Ghost-busting is never simple: just ask the Ghost Finder's of New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green's Carnacki Institute.In a quiet London suburb, four university students are holding a séance in a house everyone knows is haunted - and, of course, it goes terribly wrong. Whatever or whoever they managed to summon has left them nothing but empty shells.Enter the Ghost Finders, ready to confront the enraged poltergeist and battle for the students' very souls.It's all in a day's work for the Carnacki Institute operatives - except this day is going to get very nasty indeed. What they're about to discover is that another entity had also breached the veil between worlds and crossed the threshold into ours . . . and they soon realise that it's not just four lives at stake, but all lives - humanity itself is being threatened with annihilation.Voices From Beyond is the fifth book in New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green's Ghost Finders series.

The Villa Rouge

By Maggie Ross

Authors:

Maggie Ross

Morgan Perincall's marriage is already disintegrating when her husband volunteers for service in France. Dazed by his desertion, she sends their children west to safety, and leaves London for the dubious sanctuary of her childhood home, the Villa Rouge. Situated on the East coast, it is vulnerable to German attack. Caught between the open hostility of her father's housekeeper and the suffocating affection of Charlie, who for all his enthusiasm is not fit for service, Morgan's days are brightened by the arrival of an R.A.F. squadron - a chance to relive the romances of her wilder youth. But the fall of Dunkirk brings a sobering taste of defeat, and the Battle of Britain soon sees the once-carefree pilots fighting for their lives, their country. With danger drawing ever closer, and the secrets of her past beginning to unravel, Morgan discovers that sometimes the best intentions can leave the darkest legacies.

The Visitors

By Simon Sylvester

Authors:

Simon Sylvester

The island has always seemed such a safe place, such a friendly community. Now the possibility of a killer on Bancree is dangerously close to home. Nobody moves to the remote Scottish island of Bancree, and few leave - but leaving is exactly what seventeen-year-old Flora intends to do. So when a mysterious man and his daughter move into isolated Dog Cottage, Flo is curious. What could have brought these strangers to the island? The man is seductively handsome but radiates menace; and there's something about his daughter Ailsa that Flo can't help but feel drawn towards. People aren't only arriving on Bancree - they are disappearing too. Reports of missing islanders fill the press and unnerve the community. When a body washes ashore, suspicion turns to the strange newcomers on Dog Rock. Convinced of their innocence, Flo is fiercely determined to protect her friend Ailsa. Could the answer to the disappearances, and to the pull of her own heart, lie out there, beyond the waves?

Vail

By Trevor Hoyle

Authors:

Trevor Hoyle

In this 'nightmare vision of Britain as a Police State' (Punch) Jack Vail is drawn into a sinister, scheming world populated by the offbeat, the bizarre and the morally corrupt. Jack's wife and daughter are killed in a motorway accident, and now Jack Vail, alone in the world, finds himself in London - but it is not quite the city we know. While his home in the North was stricken with poverty and radiation poisoning, the capital is being consumed by consumerism, media-obsession and moral corruption. Pornography, show business ethics and money-marketing flourish.Is Vail going to be able to sustain his belief in a universal order while he is being engulfed by the growing anarchy surrounding him? In his nightmarish vision of a not-too-distant future, award-winning author Trevor Hoyle vividly reflects the grim mood of 1980s Britain.

The Vintage Girl

By Hester Browne

The Voyage

By Murray Bail

Authors:

Murray Bail

Frank Delage, a middle-aged Australian, arrives in Vienna with the most daring of propositions. He has invented a revolutionary piano and means to market it to the grand old world of classical music. A chance meeting with one Amalia von Schalla brings new possibilities - a soirée, an introduction to her daughter Elisabeth, dinner with an avant-garde composer. But when the sheer audacity of his campaign dawns on him, he takes a slow boat home to the southern hemisphere. As it meanders through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal, he is afforded ample time to reflect on tensions between the old world and the new. And, for all his travails, he is not going home empty-handed...

Voice of the Demon

By Kate Jacoby

Authors:

Kate Jacoby

The second in a glorious epic of political intrigue, sorcery and romance: an ancient prophecy and a new evil threaten the country: perfect for fans of Robin Hobb and Elizabeth Moon.The Prophecy of the Key is coming to pass, promising chaos and destruction for Lusara and its people.Robert Douglas, the new Duke of Haddon, has been banished from the sorcerers' hidden colony, for he will neither bow to the will of the ruling council, nor will he use his banned magical powers to overthrow the usurper King Selar. But he cannot hide out at his estate, for his reckless brother Finnlay, believed dead by most of Lusara, has left the Enclave and is headed straight for trouble. And Jenn needs his help again too. She's been learning to live the life of a noblewoman whilst secretly using her own powers to help those fighting the Guide's punitive new laws - but Lusara's queen has asked for her help, leaving her no choice but to call on Robert and the Bond they share . . .And all the while the Angel of Darkness, a sorcerer of immense power, has been using his position as an Alderman close to the usurper king to foment his own dastardly plans for Lusara.Once again, Lusara sits on the brink of cataclysm . . .

Valediction (A Spenser Mystery)

By Robert B. Parker

Authors:

Robert B. Parker

When a religious sect kidnap a young dancer, a hit man's bullet soon has Spenser's name on it. But the most dangerous man to cross is the one who isn't afraid to die, and Spenser has just lost the woman who made his life worth living.

Vivien's Heavenly Ice Cream Shop

By Abby Clements

Authors:

Abby Clements

'Deliciously romantic. A perfect summer read!' Miranda Dickinson. Discover this feel-good bestseller set by the sea, perfect for fans of Jo Thomas and Cathy Bramley. When Imogen and Anna unexpectedly inherit their grandmother Vivien's ice cream parlour, it turns both their lives upside-down. The Brighton shop is a seafront institution, but while it's big on charm it's critically low on customers. If the sisters don't turn things around quickly, their grandmother's legacy will disappear forever. With summer looming, Imogen and Anna devise a plan to return Vivien's to its former glory. Rather than sell up, they will train up, and make the parlour the newest destination on the South Coast foodie map. While Imogen watches the shop, her sister flies to Italy to attend a gourmet ice cream-making course. But as she works shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best chefs in the industry, Anna finds that romance can bloom in the most unexpected of places...

The Voice of the Spirits

By Xavier-Marie Bonnot

Venus Laid Bare

By CC Gibbs

Authors:

CC Gibbs

How many young ladies have the will and inclination to resist the advances of the infamous Marquis of Redvers?Only one, it seems! Venus Duras may be the only beauty left in London that hasn't succumbed to Jack Fitz-James' legendary prowess. In fact, she's turned him down directly, something that quickly became the talk of the town. Jack won't be giving up so easily though, he's determined to make Venus his greatest conquest. But as Venus continues to tease him and tantalize him, without ever giving in, it seems that the Marquis may have finally met his match!

The Victor's Crown

By David Potter

The Villa

By Rosanna Ley

Authors:

Rosanna Ley

THE #1 KINDLE BESTSELLER. An unforgettable story set off the sun-soaked coast of Sicily for fans of Dinah Jefferies, Veronica Henry and Santa Montefiore.When Tess Angel receives a solicitor's letter inviting her to claim her inheritance - the Villa Sirena, perched on a clifftop in Sicily - she is stunned. Her only link to the island is through her mother, Flavia, who left Sicily during World War II and cut all contact with her family. Initially resistant to Tess going back to her roots, Flavia realises the secrets from her past are about to be revealed and decides to try to explain her actions. Meanwhile, Tess' teenage daughter Ginny is stressed by college, by her blooming sexuality and filled with questions that she longs to ask her father, if only she knew where he was.

Vellum

By Matt Rubenstein

Authors:

Matt Rubenstein

In the crypt of an old church, a translator and linguist uncovers a vellum-bound, illuminated manuscript. Written in an unknown alphabet, Jack's not sure if his discovery is a hoax, a code, or even the only written record of a long-forgotten language, but he's determined to unlock the manuscript's secrets.Scribbled marginalia reveal he's not the first to try - his predecessors are shadowy figures, monks from furtive religious orders, cryptographers and alchemists. Seduced by the lure of the unknown, Jack is drawn ever deeper into the manuscript's labyrinthine past - to the crusades, to the great Library of Alexandria and perhaps even further back. But is each new turn in the labyrinth only taking him further from the truth?Intoxicated by his quest, Jack is lead into ever-darker territory. Nearing the heart of the mystery, he can feel sinister forces gathering and his life disintegrating. To save his life and his mind, he has no choice but to break the cipher and reveal the manuscript's ultimate truth.